Chapter v12c1

**About a hundred years ago, there was a man.**

He appeared suddenly one day, without any warning.

No one knew where he came from.

Of course, at first, no one paid attention to his existence.

Such things had always happened.

People all feared him.

Eventually, just hearing his name would make people’s hair stand on end and their knees weak.

Because of this, everyone came to avoid even uttering his name.

People, filled with fear, terror, and despair, called him the ‘Heavenly Tribulation Blood God’.

**Spark of Jealousy**

“Ryu-yeon!”

Baek Mu-yeong, one of the Twin Excellences of the Nine Dragons Society and the top prospect of the Hyeongsan Sect, clearly heard Na Yerin’s scream.

Her voice was clear and pure, like crystal raindrops playing a melody as they fell on a silver mirror. It was deep like an abyss lake and beautiful like marten fur, with a magical power that captivated listeners. But now, that voice was filled with urgency, surprise, fear, and anxiety.

Previously, her voice had been frozen like the north wind and snow from the icy northern lands. Never before had a trace of emotion been carried on that chilling wind. How could that cold voice have melted like a spring stream under the first sunlight of the season, trembling so precariously! Had there ever been a time in the past when that cold voice rang out so loudly, carrying such diverse emotions?

Reflecting on his memories, there had never been such an occurrence. It probably wouldn’t even be found in the Aesojeohoe persistent “Beauty Concentrated Close Monitoring Record” (called a “stalking record” across the Silk Road in the Blue-Eyed Country, where professionals who specialize in this are called “stalkers”).

Moreover, even he, who prided himself on having experienced numerous women, couldn’t deny that this was the first time he had heard such a clear, beautiful, mysterious, and enchanting voice.

At that moment, Baek Mu-yeong noticed his friend Wi Ji-cheon’s strange behavior. (They hadn’t severed ties completely yet, though their relationship had become distant.)

He was hunched over, staring blankly at his own hands. It was a posture reminiscent of a suicidal person who had given up on life. In this dangerous moment, with hundreds of arrows falling like monsoon rain and rotating blades descending wildly along iron chains, such absent-minded behavior was as good as giving up one’s right to live.

Baek Mu-yeong found his old friend’s behavior strange, but due to the constant life-threatening attacks from all directions, he had no time to pay further attention. At this very moment, dozens of arrows were aiming for his life. It would be shameful to die from mere pointed wooden sticks; he couldn’t face the elders of his sect.

Unable to commit such a grave sin against his sect, he turned his attention back to decisively dealing with the threats. His sword cut through the air, emitting a cold sword energy.

“Hehehe…”

Wi Ji-cheon kept letting out an eerie laugh, staring at his empty hands with bloodshot eyes. Though his hands were clearly clean and empty, they appeared red as if stained with blood due to his bloodshot eyes. Although these hands were clearly attached to his arms, they now seemed as distant as the bottom of a thousand-foot cliff.

When had she ever cried out so urgently, so desperately, losing her self-control? She, who normally found it difficult to engage in even casual conversation.

Wi Ji-cheon felt as if he would go blind with jealousy, burning like black flames.

“Kukukuk! Kukukuk!”

Having lost his grip on reason and surrendered his mind and body to the torrent of emotions, his current state was no different from that of a madman. Right now, he had no trace of the reason that seeks righteousness. He was in a state of complete vulnerability.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Blind arrows failed to hit their dazed target, striking the ground fiercely as they grazed past him. Yet he remained motionless. Did he intend to die like this?

A viper, not native to this gorge but an outsider from another land, silently approached his heel, its fangs gleaming. Its venom was dozens of times more potent than that of ordinary vipers. Moreover, this venom was like an evil sword wielded at someone’s command. For this snake that had escaped its group, any target would do. It chose this dazed man simply because he was close and, judging by his slumped posture, seemed easy to subdue with little resistance. Indeed, a wise decision.

The black-scaled viper lunged fiercely, its white pair of fangs gleaming. Or rather, it flew.

Swish!

In an instant, with a flash of sword light, the viper’s head and body were split in half, forming a thin line of blood just an inch from Wi Ji-cheon’s foot. Red blood seeped from the viper’s cut surface, spotting Wi Ji-cheon’s clothes with red stains.

The one who had swung his sword to save him in this critical moment was Cheong Heun, one of the Three Star Swordsmen. Once, along with Baek Mu-yeong, they had been known as the Three Friends of the Heavenly Dragon. Though that name hadn’t faded, their friendship had dimmed to the point where only faint traces remained, accompanied by loneliness.

“Hehehe, kukukuk! Kikikik!”

Despite having his life saved, Wi Ji-cheon didn’t express gratitude. Instead, he continued to let out an eerie laugh mixed with self-loathing and mockery, like someone who had lost their mind.

As if surrounded by thick darkness, even his old friend seemed to have disappeared from his sight.

‘Could he have gone mad from the tension?’

Cheong Heun slightly furrowed his brow. He was well aware that such mental disorders sometimes occurred in novices participating in their first battle. It was because their extremely sensitive nerves were torn apart by the intense shock of blood, pain, and death.

However, Cheong Heun soon denied his own assumption. As far as he knew, Wi Ji-cheon wasn’t the owner of such a weak mind. As he tilted his head in thought for a moment, Cheong Heun suddenly realized that Wi Ji-cheon’s eerie laughter had stopped.

When their gazes met as Wi Ji-cheon quietly raised his head, Cheong Heun felt his heart sink from the psychological shock. Wi Ji-cheon’s eyes were filled with emptiness and despair, like those of a dead person, without a trace of hope’s shadow.

“Kukukuk. You did something unnecessary, friend. You should have just let me die… That would have been much, much better… Then I wouldn’t have had to feel this pain, as if thousands of nails were being driven into my heart. Now I can’t even die as I please, because now I don’t want to die! Instead…”

Speaking in a chillingly cold and cynical voice, like someone who had given up on everything, Wi Ji-cheon once again stared blankly at his two hands. Suddenly, he found his hands, which appeared red to him, unbearably irritating. And he thought how nice it would be if his red-looking hands were stained with the blood of that damned Bi Ryu-yeon.

A maddening thirst parched his mouth. It seemed that only the fresh blood flowing from that bastard’s heart, carved out of his chest, could quench this burning thirst. He felt he could sell his soul to the devil without hesitation if it meant quenching this thirst.

Uncontrollable jealousy and guilt met and swirled fiercely in his mind. In this fierce whirlpool, guilt was shattered without a trace at some point, and unbearable hatred filled its place.

An intolerable whirlwind of madness enveloped his mind and body. It tore apart his already weakened mind and reason. However, no one noticed this change in him. Neither Baek Mu-yeong, struggling with the arrows raining down from afar, nor Cheong Heun, who was right beside him, noticed that his mind was slowly being consumed by evil.

At some point, a thin line that had been barely maintained in Wi Ji-cheon’s heart snapped with a ‘twang’.

**Feast of the Flying Snakes!**

– Activation of the Death Flying Snake Formation

“Xue Gong is dead.”

Xue Jian reported with a face as hard as stone.

“… I can’t believe it.”

Red Blood muttered. There’s no victory without a price, he knew that. But… sometimes to gain one thing, another must be sacrificed, yet they hadn’t achieved any results so far. Of course, they had prepared for some sacrifices, but they never expected to lose a squad leader.

“It’s truly amazing that they’ve endured with only this much damage so far. We’ve already lost Xue Gong, but they haven’t lost anything yet…”

Red Blood finally made up his mind and slowly turned around. It was embarrassing, but it seemed they would have to seek assistance from those people.

“I apologize, but it seems we’ll need your help, Venerable One.”

A low and somewhat indifferent voice immediately responded.

“Understood!”

One of the three old men who had been quietly observing the situation from behind stepped forward, nodding. The old man in green clothes had a body as thin as a dry branch, a face as rugged as a goat’s, and narrow, long-slit eyes that shone as sharply as a viper’s.

Looking at the eerie glow emanating from those chilling snake-like eyes, it seemed strange that he didn’t have scales covering his entire body, which would have been normal. Moreover, his thin, long-slit pale gray lips gave the creepy impression that a forked red tongue might flicker out at any moment.

This old man in green was Mo Sa-ryeong, the Flying Snake God Lord, one of the three Venerable Ones deployed for this operation.

“I thought we wouldn’t need a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken… I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“Heheheh, it’s fine, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Isn’t it all for Him? This is nothing more than a trifle for me. Hehehe, actually, I’ve been counting the days like a bride waiting for her wedding night, wondering when this old man would be called. You probably don’t know how anxious I’ve been, worried that these rusty old bones might end up without even a chance to oil them up. Leave it to me.”

Letting out a grotesque laugh while boasting, Mo Sa-ryeong held a sinister snake-shaped staff in his right hand. This dark-colored staff with red jewels embedded in the snake’s eyes was his unique weapon, the Ten Thousand Snake Blood Staff.

With just one swing of the Ten Thousand Snake Blood Staff, thousands of snakes would absolutely obey Mo Sa-ryeong’s commands. All of these snakes were venomous vipers with poison strong enough to instantly kill an ox.

“Now, my darlings. It’s feast time!”

Whistle!

Hiss!

As he swung the Ten Thousand Snake Blood Staff fiercely with a sinister smile on his thin lips, a sharp whistle echoed through the air.

At this signal, the ground around Mo Sa-ryeong began to writhe and undulate blackly. From within the black waves, a chilling “hiss” sound echoed sharply and loudly. It was a bone-chilling sound like thousands of snakes singing in unison.

This writhing and hissing spread in all directions instantly like ripples on a beach. Even from the opposite side of the gorge, a responding “hiss” could be heard.

Xue Jian unconsciously frowned. It was an incredibly eerie sight no matter how many times he saw it. Although he prided himself on having nerves of steel that could match anyone’s, he couldn’t help but feel his hair stand on end at the sight of thousands of snakes in a frenzy.

Whoosh!

Hundreds of snakes emerged from the black waves and threw themselves down into the gorge without hesitation. The sky above the gorge was instantly filled with the shadows of black snakes. The Flying Snake Formation, one of the Flying Snake God Lord Mo Sa-ryeong’s absolute death formations, had been activated.

At this moment, Bi Ryu-yeon was just climbing up the iron chains like a tightrope walker using the Phoenix Dance Ascending to Heaven technique, soaring up the sheer cliff like a phoenix taking flight.

It was at this moment that Na Yerin’s scream rang out.